Tipperary didn't have enough in the locker to counteract the green wave

Anyone who expected evidence of shifting sands in the alignment of Tipperary and Limerick hurling was disappointed at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday evening last. Forget about the one-point verdict because this was more of the same, a rehash of the last seven years or so since Mrs Kiely’s son took charge.

By now the pattern is well established. Tipperary huff and puff but ultimately run out of gas as the Limerick machine just trundles on. In Liam Cahill’s unflinchingly honest admission afterwards, Tipperary yet again were unable to counteract the green wave.

Stephen Barry in his Examiner report pointed out that in 13 meetings between the counties since John Kiely took charge, Tipperary have never won a second half. It’s a stark statistic. We remember them alright, especially the 2021 Munster decider where a ten-point lead was ultimately replaced by a five-point defeat.

The figures weren’t as dramatic in this meeting, but the trend was the same. Tipperary edged the first half but couldn’t sustain the effort. Limerick’s second half was dominant, the leaking of two goals merely glossing the final figures.

It was a peculiar first half played in wet and greasy conditions. The scoring was low; the mistakes were high. It had that tentative feel to it, with the sides mostly neutralising each other.

The big break came with Tipperary’s goal, which was an item of sublime finish. Gearoid O’Connor’s sideline cut caught Mike Casey out of position with Jason Forde fielding behind him. It was the finish, however, that was remarkable.

Despite the presence of goalie and defenders, Forde somehow managed to release and flick the ball to the net in one overhead movement. You’d need slow-motion replay to fully appreciate the deftness. With hands as fast as that the Silvermines man would have made a great gunslinger in the Wild West.

For Tipperary it was a significant breach. Yet in the seven minutes that followed before half time Limerick retrieved four unanswered points to retire a mere one adrift. It’s as if when you poke the Limerick bear with a goal you immediately trigger a response. It was similar in the second half.

Overall, Tipperary did well in that first period. The defence looked secure, especially the full line where all three were on top, though as the half wore on Brian McGrath was having difficulties on the influential Cian Lynch; Bryan O’Mara replaced him at half time.

Midfield was busy and even through the efforts of Connolly and Cadell while Forde and O’Connor were the principal score-sources in attack.

Twelve minutes into the second half Tipperary suffered a major blow with the departure of Seamus Kennedy. At writing time, we still await word on the extent of the damage to his knee; while fearing the worst we hope for the best. He’s an underrated player in the side, strong and athletic and able to score as well as defend. I’ve always seen him as a big-day player, at his best in Croke Park on the greatest days.

As the second half advanced, so did Limerick. Tipperary were now feeling the strain being bossed particularly around the middle third, Limerick hassling in numbers. We did resume with a few quick scores but thereafter the well was running drier. Limerick were finding more traction, well ahead on turnovers, the points coming now as they hit the front. The sight of Colin Coughlan ghosting up the left wing unattended to hit a pair of flags was symptomatic of our faltering effort.

This was the winning phase of the game and Tipperary were second best. I feared we’d ship a heavy defeat at this juncture but the goals did soften the fall. In truth they came against the run of play and owed much to defensive slips.

That’s not to detract from the quality of the finishes by both ‘Bonner’ and Jake Morris. For the first the Lorrha man executed a great flick away from Cathal O’Neill and raced in for an emphatic finish.

However, once again it was a score that inspired Limerick more than Tipperary. Spurred into action, the Shannonsiders reeled off another four on the trot to regain the initiative once more. Patterns, patterns.

The game was petering out to an inevitable end when Tipp pilfered the third goal. This time a very casual Tommy Morrissey was dispossessed and another Morris major was on the way. From that position there’s no better finisher than Jake. Suddenly the lead was back to the minimum but that was it, time was up. If Dan McCormack wasn’t wide a minute earlier, we might have stolen a draw. Indeed. If my aunt etc. etc. In any case it would have been undeserved.

In truth we could have no complaints. We were beaten by the better, more dominant side, a team that has found our measure and is in no mood to relinquish the hold.

On the positive side Tipp kept up the chase to the end and showed the type of lethal finishers we have in players like Forde and Morris. Defensively too we had some big games from the likes of Ronan Maher and Craig Morgan; Bryan O’Mara stood up well also on being introduced.

However, on the day we hadn’t enough in the locker. Too many others failed to impact and the sum of our parts was much less than Limerick’s total.

It was a perfect outcome for John Kiely, getting the win but with enough stick to chastise his players after the concession of those goals. They felt they might have had a penalty and accompanying black card for a second half foul on Gillane. On playback the claim seemed justified, though nobody seemed to notice that Paddy Cadell was clearly fouled in the lead-up.

So, where does this now leave Tipperary heading into the final round against Antrim at Corrigan Park this weekend? Limerick travel to Salthill and if they collect their expected win then we go through to the semis as the second side in the group. A Galway win, however, should see the three teams tied on points, with score difference then the deciding factor.

In that scenario the mathematics of the table is very much against Tipperary. Limerick’s score difference is 52 points and Galway’s is 59. Tipperary’s score differential is only 22 points.

Overturning those figures would require quite a spectacular pair of results. Specifically, we’d need Galway to dramatically reduce Limerick’s figure and in parallel hope for a big-figure rout of Antrim.

Effectively anything other than a Limerick win (or a draw) will see us miss out on the semis, which would be rough justice after losing just a single game.

The rule on three-way ties was changed last year for club fixtures, with score calculations based only on the games between the three sides but, apparently, this does not apply to inter-county games where all matches are still factored in.

The club method makes perfect sense and why it’s not universally applied is ridiculous.

Anyway, on known form Limerick will be expected to remain unbeaten when they visit Pearse Stadium, especially with Conor Whelan and Daithi Burke out of the Galway team after collecting red cards at the weekend against Dublin.

Antrim prop up the base of the table following four defeats and a score differential of minus 59. They lost by six points to Westmeath last weekend and their heaviest defeat was a twenty seven-point pasting by Limerick.

Tipperary played Antrim in the league on 18 previous occasions without defeat. Last year at Corrigan Park Tipperary won by 4-28 to 2-16.

Reaching the semis would be important for Tipperary, so here’s hoping Limerick do the needful in Salthill this weekend.